Editing Jewish holidays (section)

===Mourning for Jerusalem: Seventeenth of Tammuz and Tisha B'Av===
The three-week period starting on 17 Tammuz and concluding after Tisha B'Av has traditionally been observed as a period of mourning for the destruction of [[Jerusalem]] and the [[Holy Temple]] there.

====Fast of the Seventeenth of Tammuz====
{{Main article|Seventeenth of Tammuz}}
* Shiva Asar B'Tammuz: 17 [[Tammuz (Hebrew month)|Tammuz]]
The Seventeenth of Tamuz (שבעה עשר בתמוז, ''Shiva Asar B'Tamuz'') traditionally marks the first breach in the walls of the Jerusalem during the Roman conquest in 70 CE, at the end of the [[Second Temple]] period.<ref group=Note>The [[Jerusalem Talmud]] at ''[[Ta'anit (tractate)|Ta'anit]]'' 4:5 states that the walls were breached on this date during the [[First Temple]] period as well, notwithstanding the text of {{bibleref|Jeremiah|39:2|HE}}.</ref>  According to tradition, this day has had negative connotations since Moses broke the first set of tablets on this day.<ref>Per {{bibleref|Exodus|32:1|HE}} ''ff.,'' counting forty days from [[Shavuot]].</ref>  The Mishnah cites five negative events that happened on 17 Tammuz.<ref name=taanit46>Mishnah [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/b/h/h29.htm ''Ta'anit'' 4:6] (reference in Hebrew)</ref>

This fast is observed like other minor fasts (see [[#Tzom Gedalia|Tzom Gedalia]], above). When this fast falls out on Shabbat, its observance is postponed until Sunday.

====The Three Weeks and the Nine Days====
{{main article|The Three Weeks|The Nine Days}}
* The Three Weeks: 17 Tammuz – 9 [[Av (month)|Av]]
* The Nine Days: 1–9 Av
* The Week of Tisha B'Av (beginning at the conclusion of Shabbat preceding Tisha B'Av)

The period between the fasts of 17 Tammuz and 9 Av, known as the "Three Weeks" (Hebrew:  בין המצרים, "between the straits"<ref>{{bibleref|Lamentations|1:3|HE}}</ref>), features a steadily increasing level of mourning practices as Tisha B'Av approaches. Ashkenazi Jews refrain from conducting weddings and other joyful events throughout the period unless the date is established by Jewish law (as for a [[bris]] or ''[[pidyon haben]])''. They do not cut their hair during this period.<ref name=sa551>{{cite wikisource |wslink=Shulchan Aruch/Orach Chaim/551 |title=Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 551 |noicon=yes |postscript=.}}</ref> Starting on the first of Av and throughout the nine days between the 1st and 9th days of Av, Ashkenazim traditionally refrain from eating [[meat]] and drinking [[wine]], except on Shabbat or at a ''Seudat Mitzvah'' (a [[Mitzvah]] meal, such as for a bris or ''[[siyum]]'').<ref name=sa551 /> They also refrain from bathing for pleasure.<ref name=sa551 /> Sefardic practice varies some from this; the less severe restrictions usually begin on 1 Av, while the more severe restrictions apply during the week of Tisha B'Av itself.<ref name=sa551 />

Subject to the variations described above, [[Orthodox Judaism]] continues to maintain the traditional prohibitions.  In [[Conservative Judaism]], the [[Rabbinical Assembly]]'s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards has issued several [[halakha|responsa (legal rulings)]] which hold that the prohibitions against weddings in this timeframe are deeply held traditions, but should not be construed as binding law. Thus, Conservative Jewish practice would allow weddings during this time, except on the 17th of Tammuz and 9th of Av themselves.{{refn|group=Note|See, ''e.g.,'' {{cite book|title=Proceedings of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement 1927–1970|year=1998|volume=III|publisher=The Rabbinical Assembly and The Institute of Applied Halakhah|location=Jerusalem|editor=Rabbi David Golinkin}}. Based on these responsa, many Conservative rabbis will only perform small weddings in the rabbi's study between 1–9 Av.}} Rabbis within [[Reform Judaism]] and [[Reconstructionist Judaism]] hold that halakha (Jewish law) is no longer binding and follow their individual consciences on such matters. Nevertheless, the rabbinical manual of the Reform movement encourages Reform rabbis not to conduct weddings on Tisha B'Av itself "out of historical consciousness and respect" for the Jewish community.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ask the Expert: Wedding Timing|url=http://www.myjewishlearning.com/ask_the_expert/at/Ask_the_Expert_wedding_timing.shtml|website=MyJewishLearning.org|access-date=June 11, 2013|archive-date=January 9, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109090525/http://www.myjewishlearning.com/ask_the_expert/at/Ask_the_Expert_wedding_timing.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref>

====Tisha B'Av—Ninth of Av====
[[File:Eicha268.jpg|thumb|Worshipers seated on the floor of the [[synagogue]] before the reading of [[Book of Lamentations|Lamentations]] on [[Tisha B'Av]]]]
{{main article|Tisha B'Av}}
* Tisha B'Av : 9 Av
''Tisha B'Av'' ({{lang|he|תשעה באב}}) is a major fast day and day of mourning. A Midrashic tradition states that the spies' negative report concerning the Land of Israel was delivered on Tisha B'Av. Consequently, the day became auspicious for negative events in Jewish history. Most notably, both the [[Solomon's Temple|First Temple]], originally built by King [[Solomon]], and the [[Second Temple]] of Roman times were destroyed on Tisha B'Av.<ref name=taanit46 /> Other calamities throughout Jewish history are said to have taken place on Tisha B'Av, including King [[Edward I of England|Edward I]]'s edict compelling the Jews to leave England (1290) and the [[Alhambra Decree|Jewish expulsion]] from Spain in 1492.

Tisha B'Av is a major fast. It is a 25-hour fast, running from sundown to nightfall. As on Yom Kippur, not only are eating and drinking prohibited, but also bathing, anointing, marital relations and the wearing of leather shoes.  Work is not prohibited, as on biblical holidays, but is discouraged. In the evening, the [[Book of Lamentations]] is read in the synagogue, while in the morning lengthy ''[[kinot]],'' poems of elegy, are recited. From evening until noon mourning rituals resembling those of [[Shiva (Judaism)|shiva]] are observed, including sitting on low stools or the floor; after noon those restrictions are somewhat lightened, in keeping with the tradition that Messiah will be born on Tisha B'Av.<ref name=KSA>[http://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%A7%D7%99%D7%A6%D7%95%D7%A8_%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%9C%D7%97%D7%9F_%D7%A2%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%9A_%D7%A7%D7%9B%D7%93#.28.D7.99.D7.91.29 Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 124 (Hebrew Wikisource)].</ref>

While the fast ends at nightfall of 9–10 Av, the restrictions of the Three Weeks and Nine Days continue through noon on 10 Av because the Second Temple continued to burn through most of that day. When 9 Av falls on Shabbat, when fasting is prohibited, the fast is postponed until 10 Av. In that case, the restrictions of the Three Weeks and Nine Days end with the fast, except for the prohibition against eating meat and drinking wine, which extend until the morning of 10 Av.<ref name=KSA />